While archaeology is a very old practice, only in the later 20th century was it given serious methodological consideration, and now, in the 21st century, this explosion in the availability of technological tools offers the potential to transform the practice of archaeology. But the mere existence of a new tool, no matter how fun and exciting it might seem, does not necessarily translate into good use of that tool. This theme will be addressed at the Redford Conference in Archaeology at the University of Puget Sound.

Participants in the conference hail from five countries and are engaged in projects that range from Italy and Greece to Peru to America. The conference will begin with a public lecture by Dr. Norbert Zimmerman of the Vienna Academy of Sciences: “Showing the invisible: 3-D Scanning in the Roman catacombs.” Dr. Zimmerman will offer his audience the opportunity to take a virtual tour of the catacomb of Domatilla and discuss how archaeology can make best use of new high-tech scanning capability. The conference continues on Friday evening and Saturday with panel sessions on paperless recording and data management, the use of GIS and of imaging technology, and digital publication.

Keynote discussions will be delivered by some of the pioneers in this field, including Nick Eiteljorg (Center for the Study of Architecture), Sebastian Heath (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World), and Norbert Zimmerman (Vienna Academy of Sciences).